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Dual-wielding (Kenji)
.}} » |category = |user = Kenji Hiroshi |debut = SAOK: The Twin Sword Conundrum }} The art of dual-wielding (両刀, lit. Two Swords) was an equipment state in « » available to everyone which involved the player equipping two one-handed weapons in their main and off-hand weapon-slots. As far as that was concerned it was available to everyone though it possessed various cons. Although it provided the benefit of two weapons boosting the player's stats, the player suffered an «Irregular Equipment» status that prevented the use of Sword Skills. As Sword Art Online was built around Sword Skills doing significantly more damage than standard attacks, this made dual-wielding highly impractical. Overview During the beta period many of the players attempted to utilize two one-handed swords as their primary combat style, but the consensus was that one sword was used for attacking whilst the second was used for defence. It was accepted that, in this scenario, a shield was more effective. Thusly no one could truly be said to have mastered the use of dual-wielding before the beta period ended. Kenji Hiroshi, despite the weaknesses of the style and despite his preference for one-handed swords, managed to develop an effective means of utilizing dual-blades by exploiting the system governing Sword Art Online itself as an exploit. He did this by restricting the majority of his damage to the «Martial Arts» Skill-tree, specifically Sword Skills initiated by the player's legs alone.SAOK: The Twin Sword Conundrum In addition to «Martial Arts» Kenji devised a means for swiftly switching between one-handed combat and two-handed combat through use of the «Quick Change» Mod, and launch Sword Skills by either switching out his second blade or otherwise relieving his off-hand of the blade, namely through dropping or stabbing the blade into the ground. By the end of 2022 he was practised enough in this exploit to use in the heat of battle.SAOK: Roving Rovia As far as standard attacks were concerned his acquisition of a refillable Poison vial aided the overall strength of his standard attacks by offering DoT effects.SAOK: Braving the Depths Kenji was not the sole player to experiment with or actively use dual-wielding in the early days of Sword Art Online. employed the technique when he attempted to kill Kirito and on the 5th Floor. Despite suffering the «Irregular Equipment» state, Kirito stated that Morte's weapon -- the «Harsh Hatchet» -- remained dangerous because of its high-attack and high-weight, which Morte had enhanced to allow it to cut through plate armour. Morte's second weapon in this instance was a throwing weapon featuring Level 2 Paralysis, which he used as a traditional knife rather than throwing it. would later employ the same principal as Kenji had on the early floors of , specifically the use of leg-focused «Martial Arts» Sword Skills, before he discovered his acquisition of the unique « » Skill during the month of March 2023. His most noteworthy use of the technique was when he fought off a group of Elves on the 6th Floor of Aincrad during the «Elf War» campaign. Although not strictly dual-wielding the special attributes of Airi Natsume's «Sheath Knife Belt» and Fujimaru Nakamura's «Robes of the Outlaw» allowed them to use a finite number of « s» in battle without entering into an «Irregular Equipment» state. Airi could hold upwards of three such «Throwing Picks» whilst Fujimaru could hold upwards of five, with the trait in question being referred to in-game as «Quick Draw».Quick Draw trait The main pros and cons of the style are: Pros. *Two weapons boosting the player's stats, including magical effects. *Easy parrying against multiple opponents allowing for a parry-and-counter tactic. *High-rate of basic attacks. Cons. *Traditional Sword Skills are unusable due to suffering an «Irregular Equipment» state. *Low damage output without Skills like «Martial Arts». *Equipping a shield is more effective from a defensive view-point. Sword Skills There are no Sword Skills inherent to a player employing the dual-wielding feature. There are, however, Sword Skills that can still be used despite the «Irregular Equipment» state associated with dual-wielding. Most of the Sword Skills used are from the «Martial Arts» « » and feature exclusive use of the player's legs. The effects of «Mods» also carry over to the player regardless of whether they are dual-wielding or not. This was demonstrated by Kenji through use of «Quick Change». Below are the known Sword Skills usable whilst employing two individual swords without being a user of the « » «Unique Skill»: *'Crescent Moon' -- a backflip-kick. *'Water Moon' -- a roundhouse-kick. Known users *Kenji Hiroshi. * . * . Author's notes Behind the scenes *Kenji experimented with dual-blade as a proof-of-concept more than a usable Skill. Trivia *Kenji speculated on the existence of a as early as December 2022. *Although certain weapon types visually use two weapons, namely claws, these are considered to be one weapon by the system and are thus exempt from the usual rules. References & notes References